NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER ONE

Part IV (con’t)

Verses 20-21: “But after Joseph thought about this, an angel from the Lord came to him in a dream. The angel said, ‘Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to accept Mary to be your wife. The baby inside her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son. You will name Him, Yahweh saves. Give Him that name because He will save His people from their sins.”

The term “angel of the LORD,” appears some 65 times in the Old Testament and 12 times in the New Testament. Often they are described as servants, warriors, and messengers.¹ Another thing to consider is that the Hebrew word “ADONAI” which is translated as “LORD,” literally means, “my Lords.” But rather than seeing this as any reference to the trinity, grammarians consider it the “plural of majesty”; so this led to rendering it simply as “my LORD.” But the plural form fits well with another plural Hebrew term for God “Elohim”, which is used exclusively in the story of the creation from Genesis 1:1-2:3 The second chapter of Genesis should rightly begin at 2:4, because then we find the term LORD God, which is “YaHWeH Elohim”, which singled out One above all the others. The Jews were very careful to substitute for God’s His personal, in order to prevent any inadvertent violation of speaking God’s name in vain. The Jews believed that the name was written in such a way as to hide the real name so it could not be spoken in irreverence.² In any case, an angel of YaHWeH was certainly understood to be a messenger from God. With regard to the angel who spoke to Joseph, most Jews would contribute this revelation to an Archangel such as Gabriel. In the Jewish writings we read the following words of one noted Rabbi who spoke of God: “He said, ‘Hear my words: If there be a prophet among you, I, YaHWeH, will make Myself known to him in a vision, I will speak with him in a dream.³ The Rabbi goes on to say: It is the sixth level from the level of prophecy, the level of Gabriel, appointed over dreams.”⁴ Likewise, in another Jewish document it is stated: “It is one of the foundations of our faith that God conveys prophecy to man. Prophecy is bestowed only upon a very wise sage of a strong character, who is never overcome by his natural inclinations in any regard. Instead, with his mind, he overcomes his natural inclinations at all times. He must also possess a very broad and accurate mental capacity . . . When the Spirit rests upon him, his soul becomes intermingled with the angels, and he will be transformed into a different person and will understand with a knowledge different from what it was previously. He will rise above the level of other wise men, as the prophet, Samuel told Saul:⁵ ‘The Spirit of God will descend upon you and you shall prophesy with them. And you will be transformed into a different person’.”⁶ The angel’s message is quite explicit that Yeshua was to save “His people” from their sins. These “people” are without doubt the Jews. The verse is quite positivistic in its prophetic tone. Here we have three things: a prophecy, a command, and a promise; each had a 100% chance of being wrong. But their precise fulfillment lends even more authenticity to the infallibility of God’s Word. This may well be the first New Testament promise that Yeshua will eventually be the Savior of the Jews, but that will occur during the tribulation period. At the time Jesus was born, His name was not all that unusual. Jesus is the English form of the Greek Iesous, which was the Greek form of the Aramaic name Yeshu’a. Yeshu’a is itself a contracted form of Yehoshu’a which is Joshua in English. According to one comment about this name: This is an example of a “semitism” (an allusion to Hebrew or Aramaic) brought over literally into the Greek text. It provides strong evidence in favor of the theory that there was a Hebrew or Aramaic verbal or written tradition behind the extant Greek manuscripts, for only in Hebrew or Aramaic does the explanation here of Yeshua’s name make any sense; because in Greek, Latin, or English the name itself has no meaning.”⁷ The writer leaves little doubt in the reader’s mind as to why this name was so apropos for our Lord. In Hebrew Yehoshu’a means: “Yahweh is salvation.” Nevertheless, Yeshua ben Yoseph became better known as Jesus of Nazareth. This idea of an eternal salvation was not foreign to Jewish thinkers. For instance, in a Jewish Targum we find this: “When Jacob saw Gideon son of Joash and Samson son of Manovach, who were established to be deliverers, he said, I am not looking for the salvation of Gideon, nor am I looking for the salvation of Samson; for their salvation will be a temporary salvation; but I have waited and look for Your salvation, O LORD; for Your salvation is eternal salvation.” Another copy of this Targum reads: “…but for the salvation of Messiah the son of David, who will save the children of Israel, and bring them out of captivity, and my soul waits for Your salvation.”⁸ The reason I have changed the ending of verse 21 in the text above from the way it is in the KJV and NIV, is because in Hebrew Matthew was saying “YaHWeH saves,” which was Hellenized into Greek and then Anglicized into the English, “Jehovah.” These prophesies of the arrival of the Messiah are not only found in Jewish writings, but in Greek writings as well. In one we read: “Then also shall a child of the great God come, clothed in flesh, to men, and fashioned like to mortals in the earth.”⁹

Verses 22-23: “All this happened to make clear the full meaning of what the Lord said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will become pregnant and will give birth to a son. They will name him Immanuel.’ (Immanuel means ‘God with us.’).”

Here Matthew is quoting from Isaiah: “The young woman will become pregnant, bear a son and name him ‘Immanu El [with us is God].”¹⁰ It is important to note that there is no contradiction or misquoting here between Mary naming Him Yeshua and what Isaiah said. Yeshua was His human name, while Immanu El was His divine name. Matthew was merely pointing out that the name Yeshua is indicative of what Isaiah meant with the name Immanuel, by adding what it means in Hebrew, “God with us.” His name was indicative of reality: God with us in the form of a human being to become our Savior. Christ’s deity incarnate in human flesh is hereby affirmed. Yeshua was not a puppet; He was God in the flesh, alive here on earth. Over the centuries there have been numerous debates and books written on the virgin birth. One very astute commentator tells us there are three main objections put out by doubters and skeptics: 1) A virgin birth is impossible. And without God being involved, that’s true. 2) Isaiah, by using the Hebrew word “almah,” was referring to a “young woman,” because had he meant to write “virgin” he would have used the Hebrew word “b’tulah.” Throughout Scripture “almah” is used to describe a young girl not yet married, while “b’tulah” is indicative of a girl too young to marry, both who have been tested and found to be virgins.¹¹ 3) In Isaiah, the context of the prophecy is actually giving King Achaz a sign of an event to take place within his lifetime.¹² On the contrary, as one Jewish expert points out, the context in which this prophecy is given includes all of Isaiah chapter 7, not just these eight verses, which shows that this was meant for the entire House of David as mentioned in verse 13 and referred to as “you” in plural in verses 13-14.¹³ In spite of some doubters and critics, these words were rightly applied here by Matthew to Mary, the expectant mother of Yeshua. There was no one back in King Ahaz’s house at that time who would qualify. Isaiah begins with “Behold,” not only to get attention to what he was about to say, but also to denote that it was something wonderful and extraordinary which was about to be revealed. In a highly regarded Jewish writer’s commentary we have this insight: “Therefore, the LORD (meaning the LORD, on His own, will give you a sign: He will give you a sign by Himself, without asking your permission), on His own, will give you a sign; behold, the young woman is with child (is with child: This is actually the future, as we find concerning Manoah’s wife, that the angel said to her:¹⁴ ‘And you will conceive and bear a son,’ and it is written, ‘Behold, you are with child and will bear a son.’), and she will bear a son, and she will call his name (Divine inspiration will rest upon her.) Immanuel. ([lit. God is with us. That is] to say that our Rock shall be with us, and this is the sign, for she is a young girl, and she never prophesied, yet in this instance, Divine inspiration shall rest upon her. This is what is stated below:¹⁵ ‘And I was intimate with the prophetess, etc.,’ and we do not find a prophet’s wife called a prophetess unless she prophesied.’ Some interpret this as being said about Hezekiah, but it is impossible, because, when you count his years, you find that Hezekiah was born nine years before his father’s reign. And some interpret that this is the sign, that she was a young girl and incapable of giving birth.).”¹⁶ So in this Jewish writer’s own words, this prophecy could not have applied to anyone during this period of Isaiah’s ministry. Not only was this a ploy back in the days after Matthew’s gospel first appeared, and in centuries to come, but even today the fallacy of faith and desensitivity of denial cause critics to take prophecies concerning the Messiah which were applied to Yeshua, and twist them so as to make them inapplicable to Him. It will be interesting to see after the Rapture how they will try to do the same with those prophecies that announced His return to catch away the saints, especially with so many Christians worldwide suddenly missing.

1 Cf., Zechariah 1:12

2 Babylonian Talmud, op. cit. Seder Mo’ed, Masekhet Pesachim, folio 50a; see footnote (29)

3 Numbers 12:6

4 Rabbi Hiyya opened and said Zohar on Genesis, “Joseph’s Dream”, Genesis 37:5

5 I Samuel 10:6

6 Mishnah Torah, op. cit,. Sefer Madda, Yesodei haTorah, Chap. 7:1

7 Jewish New Testament Commentary, op. cit., loc cit.

8 Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch, op. cit. Section XII Vayechi, Chap. 49:18, pp. 47-50

9 Sibylline Oracles, Book III:387

10 Isaiah 7:14, Complete Jewish Bible

11 See Exodus 2:8

12 Isaiah 7:10-17

13 Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Jewish New Testament Commentary, op. cit., loc. cit.

14 Judges 13:3

15 Isaiah 8:3

16 Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary, op. cit., Isaiah 7:14